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A Frightening Scenario to Avoid in Your Business

Business success is contingent upon customers, no matter what you do. If you own a restaurant, the tables must be filled every night to turn a profit. If you’re a doctor, you won’t get very far without patients. Busy equals success, but busy can also create problems. Accidents or mistakes can cost a business its – well – business, and you must ensure you are protected against all possible scenarios to prevent substantial loss.

Imagine a Loss


Imagine you are that restaurant owner. You have had a passion for food your entire life. You enrolled in culinary school right out of high school and graduated top of your class. You worked for famous chefs throughout the world and improved your skills. You finally got to the place where you opened your own restaurant. You opened it in Washington D.C. because you wanted to be a mover and shaker in the nation’s capital. You secured Washington D.C. business insurance. Is it enough?
You’ve changed the menu for the hotter summer months. A bevy of cool and unique salads is making a splash with your customer base. You receive your morning produce shipment and everything looks great. The produce if fresh and you’ve worked with your supplier for months. No reason not to trust him. You and your staff craft the salads throughout the day, barely able to keep up with the lunch rush. The next thing you know your phone starts ringing off the hook. People are getting sick.

This Can Happen


Don’t make the mistake of thinking this or any other number of disasters cannot happen to you. They can. In fact, just last year a diner had an even more horrifying experience when munching on a salad at a popular chain restaurant. No matter your business, you must prepare for any disaster, and the example above could result in numerous lawsuits for food poisoning and an unwanted visit by the city’s food inspector. “It’s my supplier’s fault” doesn’t always work. You have liability, too.

Why This Is Important


In this example, the reasons why this is important are numerous. First, your customers got sick after eating lunch at your restaurant. All who ate salads were the victims. The fact that everyone got sick points the finger at you. Your salad made everyone ill. This opens you to liability for their medical care and liability should they band together and pursue action against you. In this case, depending on the number of customers ready to fight, you may face a class-action suit.

In the case of food service, you also have to answer to the public health authorities. Should the authorities find something wrong with your food service premises, they may shut you down. Do you have the overhead to close your doors for a few days? Do you have insurance to cover business interruption? You may also have to dump your supplier and find someone else. What if the new supplier is more expensive? Can you afford that?

In this scenario, a business became liable for food poisoning but anything can happen to any business at any time. To prevent a disaster in your company, you must plan for everything, including data breach. Then, make sure you have a recovery plan and insurance.

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